Hello Guest it is March 18, 2024, 11:38:24 PM

Author Topic: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?  (Read 269094 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Hood

*
  •  25,835 25,835
  • Carnoustie, Scotland
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #390 on: August 16, 2016, 05:11:52 PM »
How are you liking the Haimer? I would find it hard to be without it.

Hood

Offline Davek0974

*
  •  2,606 2,606
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #391 on: August 17, 2016, 02:21:20 AM »
Well, not used it in anger yet as i'm still messing with the build, final steps etc. But it's a serious bit of kit, well made and looks like its exactly the right thing for the job, I have no doubts it will work fine once i get the first job on.

I think i posted many posts back about a little job i do batches of - round shafts with a square peg milled on the end and i asked about the CAM for it, I was using a 5C collet block and making four cuts, rotating 90deg each previously, someone mentioned standing the 5C block upright and working round it, but yesterday i realised what i really need is a pair of custom vise jaws with a half-round slot in each one - this would give me very accurate position and grip.

This will be one of the first jobs, plain mild steel will work as they will likely only be used for this job. Then I can just run round the tip with a 12mm ball-nosed cutter and speed would be greatly increased over the manual task.

Offline Hood

*
  •  25,835 25,835
  • Carnoustie, Scotland
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #392 on: August 17, 2016, 06:45:48 PM »
I use soft jaws all the time, the Gerrardi vice I have has holes in the top that you can bolt on soft jaws, quite expensive to buy them but I made 3 sets up.
I do prop shafts for boats on occasions and they have to stick out the hatch I cut in the Chirons enclosure, because the key is on the taper I need to tilt the shaft and because of that it won't fit out the hatch because of the vice height being too low, so I just welded a couple of blocks to the top of the soft jaws , problem solved :)

Another great thing about soft jaws is if you have to quickly grip a round bar for a quick job it is simple to just clamp something in the jaws which is maybe 10mm smaller than the dia  and 10mm shorter than the jaw height, fire up the circle wizard and cut a circle 5mm or so deep the same dia of the part. Remove the bit you clamped and then when you close the jaws on the part it is spot on and you already have the center, so no need for even using the Haimer :D


Hood

Offline Davek0974

*
  •  2,606 2,606
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #393 on: August 18, 2016, 02:19:19 AM »
Sounds good, lots of learning to do i think.

The part i need is 1/2" round, 3" long and has a 5mm square peg machined on one end - a small chuck key style tool.

I tried doing CAM for the peg last night, seems Aspire will not let me do it how I thought in would, I am sure F360 will but that seems overkill.

I might have a stab at hand-coding the part for educational reasons, needs two passes, square corners, but cut with a 1/2" ball nosed tool so there is a radius between tip and body, DOC would be 11mm, steel is EN16T so a little harder than plain mild. Speed would be around 450rpm, 60mm/min on HSS tools.

Sounds simple, see how far i get ;)

Offline dude1

*
  •  1,253 1,253
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #394 on: August 18, 2016, 02:31:40 AM »
 it would be quite easy to do in fusion then it gives you the high speed cutting it is a lot faster cutting with fusion than vectric products but not as easy to use

Offline Hood

*
  •  25,835 25,835
  • Carnoustie, Scotland
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #395 on: August 18, 2016, 05:47:51 AM »
The newfangled solutions addons are excellent for doing quick simple things like that.
Use them all the time, especially the circle and keyway ones. Can set to ramp in.
http://www.machsupport.com/shop/mach3-addons-for-mill/

Hood

Offline Davek0974

*
  •  2,606 2,606
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #396 on: August 18, 2016, 09:17:01 AM »
After studying the ancient scrolls for a while, something like this might do it...

N1 T1 M06
N2 G90 G54 G00 x-20 Y-15
N3 S460 M03
N4 G43 H01 Z2 M08
N5 G01 Z-11 F500
N6 G41 X-3.75 P12.70 F60
N7 Y3.75
N8 X3.75
N9 Y-3.75
N10 X-3.75
N11 Y2.75
N12 X2.75
N13 Y-2.75
N14 X-2.75
N15 G40 X-20
N16 Y20
N17 G0 Z10 M09
N18 G53 G49 M05
M30

Offline Davek0974

*
  •  2,606 2,606
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #397 on: August 22, 2016, 01:58:05 PM »
Found this on the welding bench this afternoon ;)

Should do nicely i think, also fitted the belt covers on the X & Y drives so she's chip-proof now :)

Offline Davek0974

*
  •  2,606 2,606
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #398 on: August 22, 2016, 02:11:38 PM »
Signal conumdrum...

I have the VFD fault relay for the main spindle wired into the e-stop circuit, this is a N/C pair that open on fault, the second VFD is for the aux high-speed spindle but this one has a relay that energises to indicate a no-fault situation and drops out on a fault.

Sounds ok but the the relay being energised on no fault means it only comes on when the VFD is initialised and ready - catch22 as my e-stop will not allow it to come on unless the relay loop is closed :)

Is there a smart way round this - i don't want buttons that have to be held in while it initialises etc, could maybe use a short on-delay timer to short out the VFD relay until a few seconds after power-on but is there a better way????
« Last Edit: August 22, 2016, 02:13:10 PM by Davek0974 »

Offline Hood

*
  •  25,835 25,835
  • Carnoustie, Scotland
    • View Profile
Re: Bridgeport Knee Mill Conversion?
« Reply #399 on: August 22, 2016, 05:47:49 PM »
Yes, PITA the things being that way, went through the same scenario when helping a friend with his lathe and a mentor spindle drive.
I think the timer relay is likely the best option.
Hood